1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lid of a container, especially a beverage can, comprising a substantially flat lid surface and a preferably folded edge area, with at least one re-closeable pouring opening being provided on the lid surface, a substantially integral closure means associated with the pouring opening being provided in its entirety on the bottom side of the lid surface in a torsion-proof manner, and an actuating means which penetrates the lid surface being arranged on the upper side of the lid surface accessible from the outside, with the closure means being movable from a closed position to an open position through actuation of the actuating means, and with the actuating means comprising a support element which cooperates with the lid surface when the closure means is in the open position.
2. The Prior Art
Numerous beverage cans have become known which have a re-closable pouring opening. DE 196 13 246 A1 for example discloses a closure means with substantially the same diameter which is applied to the already existing lid, which closure means closes a pouring opening disposed in the lid by twisting. Similar apparatuses where some of these closure means cover the lid only partly have been described in DE 196 13 256 B4, DE 197 06 112 C2, EP 1 247 752 B1 or U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,314 B1. The disadvantageous aspect in these closure means is their mostly complex arrangement which additionally requires constructional changes to the lid region of the can.
A further group of closure means for beverage cans consists of a pull tab which is fastened by means of a rivet connection to the can lid, with the handle part of the pull tab being arranged simultaneously as the closure means for the pouring opening, which after the opening of the pouring opening seals the pouring opening again by twisting and/or folding down the pull tab. Such elements are shown, among other things, in DE 197 46 539 A1, DE 203 19 105 U1, EP 1 190 952 A2, EP 1 097 086 B1 and EP 0 433 502 A1. These beverage cans all have a closure means which is applied from the outside to the pouring opening and partly protrudes beyond the lid edge, so that the same can be removed inadvertently and the content of the can is exposed to the ambient environment.
GB 2 331 284 A finally describes a closure system, consisting of a pull tab for exposing a pouring opening and a closure means which is arranged on the bottom side of the lid of the can in the interior of the can, with a spring element pressing the closure means against the pouring opening. In order to enable the emptying of the can, parts of the closure means must be displaced against the pull tab. This closure means comes with the disadvantage that it is highly complex and requires a change to the conventional lid of the can. A slightly simpler arranged closure device which also consists of several parts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,842, which also requires a complex changed lid. Similar re-useable closure means are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,032 A and U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,695 A.
It is therefore the object of the invention to eliminate the disadvantages of the state of the art as described above and to provide a lid for a can which has a secure closure system for resealing the can which can preferably be mounted in a simple and cost-effective way in conventional lids.